POLI 2051 : EXAM 1
Document Summary
Why do we allow ourselves into this arrangement: because government can do things for us. Without government, we would have to exist in what some have called the state of nature : nasty, brutish, short, what would life be like without government, social contract theory can guide us here to some extent. What does government do? (4 functions of government): protecting life, maintaining law and order, national defense, protecting rights and liberties, locke: protecting life wasn"t enough. We should also protect people"s rights of liberty and property: providing public goods, police, public transportation, infrastructure, library, schools, trash pick up, promoting equality. Citizens disagree about which functions are most important and which functions should be most vigorously enforced. Disagreements usually arise from differences in individual priorities, and the way these priorities are organized is called a: political ideology a coherent set of beliefs about how policies affect society and which policies are desirable. I believe the government should bail out companies.
